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Cosmo One: Dragon of the Red Planet

Artist/designer/modeler/director Makoto Kobayashi has been contributing to the Yamato universe ever since the rowdy days of 2520, and that contribution has increased exponentially with 2199 and 2202. His crossover skills are in full view at his Twitter page, which gave us a look at a mysterious modeling project over March and April of 2017; a sort-of-but-not-quite Cosmo Tiger 1. His usual cryptic comments gave nothing away until he revealed that it was created for an unusual magazine article.

This may not be the first time a Yamato subject has graced the pages of Scale Aviation (published by Dai Nippon Kaiga), but it’s definitely a first for the accompanying text information. This 6-page article fills in a piece of previously-untouched 2199 history that leads the way to 2202. The content carries an official 2202 Production Committee copyright, which makes it canonical until further notice.

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Our planet Earth faded away into the distance. Eventually, visitors from another planet set foot on Earth, one side of which had become a wasteland. The visitors dug up buried ruins and fossils that revealed the forms of Earth’s past. However, there was a record left behind by human beings that inferred the history of humanity. Because the visitors didn’t know this was a fictional fantasy story, it gave them an illusion of a world that did not exist.

The last fighter of the Mars Independence Army

Cosmo One

Dragon of the Red Planet

Hijikata was watching Yamamoto’s “acrobatic flight” from the bridge of Andromeda. Rising, descending, rebounding from a Dutch roll. It danced like a leaf from a book and then suddenly soared straight. The aircraft’s fuselage had been restored a few days ago. It flew over Andromeda with a power and speed that was unimaginable just a few years ago. Its codename was “Cosmo One,” and it had been produced by the Mars Independence Army in the last-moment struggle of the inner-planet war, which was now over.

Most of the allied ships had returned to Earth in great numbers to face a new threat. Cosmo One became a symbol of the “power” to resist. The upper echelons might have been hesitant to use that power, but sacrifices were required to serve the premise that power should not be used. That was why this aircraft was brought back from Mars.

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Hijikata of Andromeda called to Yamamoto.

“Does it seem useable?”

Yamamoto responded while swinging the craft around.

“The behavior of the fuselage is unstable. I don’t like the weight balance, either. I think it’s impossible to manage.”

Hijikata was disappointed, but Yamamoto continued.

“…for anyone but me.”

Yamamoto gave it a boost and soared upward.

“Commander. I’d like to bring this in.”

“We have to leave. There’s no time, but bring it in.”

“Roger.”

Cosmo One. A former enemy combat machine. The year was 2200.

“I find the possibility of decoding the truth of life”

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The Cosmo One was an over-developed fighter born in the Mars Revolutionary War. Here we look back at “The history of the war between Mars and Earth” based on materials in 2199.

2179: The War of Independence of Mars

Earth attempted to colonize Mars in order to deal with a lack of resources, but Earth continued to fail. However, it was confirmed that a large-scale change happened on Mars in 2175, a major change in the environment. The concentration of oxygen was much higher than on Earth, and it become possible to maintain Earth life on the low-gravity Martian surface. The Earth Federation sent a large-scale mission to Mars and the development of Martian resources seemed to advance smoothly. But, in 2179, Mars suddenly refused to transfer resources to Earth and declared independence.

2179: The Secret of Mars

The Earth Federation sent a ship of ground-control troops to Mars, and the Martian Independence Army fought back with new weapons: space battleships and space fighters. The Earth group, which had no concept of space battleships before that point, was soundly beaten. They brought back a barely-disabled space battleship to the lunar base, but its mechanisms had been constructed along completely unknown lines.

In fact, Mars had been visited by aliens. The visitors had crash-landed, and the terraforming system carried on their ship activated automatically to improve the Martian environment and make it habitable. The development mission that had been sent earlier encountered this alien technology and developed weapons to oppose the Earth forces while they studied it.

2185: The First Battle of Mars

Studying the Martian Independence Army’s space battleship lead the Earth Federation to quickly develop their own. The so-called first battle of Mars took place in 2185. Despite being technically superior, Mars was defeated by overwhelming numbers even though the battle extended to the surface of Earth. Cosmo One, the last fighter of the Martian Independence Army, was introduced at this time.

2185: The Cosmo One – Independence Army of Mars

Cosmo One is a single-seat, high-mobility fighter craft that could fly within an atmosphere and in space. In addition to two high-output positronic cannons, it carries several types of missiles in large quantities. Installed at various points, its high-mobility thrusters give it superior performance. It is extremely complex to maneuver, making prolonged combat unbearable on the pilot.

2200: The Resurrection of Cosmo One by UNCF

Afterward, the Earth forces neutralized the strongholds of hostile aliens and recaptured Mars. To succeed in restoring the devastated global environment, the development of new fighter craft became an urgent task in opposing other hostile aliens. Hijikata commandeered and restored the Cosmo One to measure against a competitive prototype named Cosmo Two. Being too large to carry on a ship, the Cosmo One was defeated and relegated to training exercises, functioning as a hypothetical enemy craft.

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This demonstrates the contrast between the Cosmo One and Cosmo Zero. Its size was already deemed incompatible, but Yamamoto had served as its test pilot, and further development continued for two years.

The redeveloped Cosmo One was called Cosmo Tiger 1, and its development as a competition prototype continued while it served as a training machine at the lunar base.

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Modeling notes:

Two single-engine Cosmo Zero kits from Bandai were dashed together and the engine nozzles formed two directional engines on the Cosmo One. The Cosmo Zero closely resembled a conventional fighter with the arrangement of its canopy, but the Cosmo One‘s cockpit is entirely surrounded by clear parts to make it a more nuanced craft. In addition, the angle from the front is reminiscent of three-dimensional combat objects Mr. Kobayashi has designed in the past. The underside of the craft is characterized by a large number of weapons mounted on the armed parts of the original model.

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A fighter from another planet with a strong form, powerful weapons, and a striking red color

1/72 Cosmo One
Full scratch-build
Modeled by Makoto Kobayashi

The design of the Cosmo Tiger 1 is fundamentally different from the conventional philosophy of the Earth forces, even considering the old seamless fighter as a motif.

“The Cosmo Falcon is a normal stealth fighter,” said mecha designer Junichiro Tamamori, “and the shape of the Cosmo Tiger 2 is a throwback to active stealth.”

It was refined based on his consideration of an alternative flow directed by the historical concept of an inner-planet war that took place before the Garmillas war in 2199. Migrants born on Mars were accustomed to a different gravity and environment than Earth. It was remodeled after operational tests, and though its high potential was proven, its body specs made it incompatible as a carrier-based plane so it was relegated to high-mobility training on the moon as a hypothetical enemy. The Cosmo One, the last fighter of the Mars Independence Army, was the original body of the Cosmo Tiger 1.

The rear portion was built by combining two 1/72 Bandai Cosmo Zero model kits side by side. The wings were attached without being flipped. The cockpit uses a Hornet canopy and the double seats of a Tomcat. The window frame is epoxy putty. Yamamoto is placed inside, though it is regrettable that transparency was reduced by mistakenly applying enamel thinner to the canopy.

One thought on “Cosmo One: Dragon of the Red Planet”

It’s great to finally get a little bit of background on the Second Inner Planet War and Yamamoto’s heritage. The discovery of alien technology before the arrival of the Garmillas is a bit of a shocker. Maybe something related to Teresa that we’ll see in 2202? Maybe a relic left by Aquarius?

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